A mirror will never tell you if you're positively beautiful, that knowledge comes from within!

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TRYING TO HIDE

I RIP UP ALL THE DOCUMENTS THAT WOULD CLUE YOU INTO ME. CHANGED MY NAME TO ANGEL DOLL AND STOLE A HALO TO HIDE MY IDENTITY. I DELETE ALL THE VOICEMAIL MESSAGES AND ERASE THE E-MAIL TOO. I WILL TAKE AMILLION EXTRA STEPS JUST TO KEEP MY TRUE SELF FROM YOU. IF ONLY THE WORLD WOULD UNDERSTAND I WOULD CEASE TO LIVE IN FEAR. BUT DAY TO DAY IN MY SOCIAL LIFE IGNORANCE IS ALL I HEAR.

IF I TOLD YOU THE TRUTH WOULD YOU STILL BE MY FRIEND OR WOULD YOU RUN AND HIDE. IF I TOLD YOU THE TRUTH WOULD YOU TREAT ME THE SAME OR WOULD YOU FEEL I DESERVE TO DIE. YOU MAY FEEL IN YOUR HEAD THAT YOULL BE THE SAME TODAY AS YESTERDAY BUT I HAVE HEARD THAT BEFORE AND IN THE END I KNOW YOU WILL RUN AWAY. BEING ME IS DIFFICULT A NEW STRUGGLE COMES WITH EACH NEW DAY. I HAVE GOTTEN TO A POINT WHERE FOR MYSELF I REFUSE TO KNELL DOWN AND PRAY. I FEAR THAT THE CREATOR HAS PUT ME HERE AS A SPONGE TO ABSORB THE PAIN. I TRY SO HARD TO FIT IN I JUST DRIVE MYSELF INSANE. TRYING TO HIDE MY REALITY I DRIFT INTO A ONE PLAYER GAME PUTTING ON MY MASK I ACCEPT THE TASK OF RUNNING AWAY FROM MY SHAME.

Lynnea April Garbutt was born in Los Angeles California. She found out about her HIV status at the age of 7. For as long as she could remember she has had dreams of being a model. The older she got the more she saw her dream fading away. She felt that no one would consider her to be beautiful because of all the hurtful things she heard said about HIV positive people. At the age of 20 she realized that no matter what people said she was still beautiful and HIV was never a part of her appearance. Lynnea wanted to spread the message that HIV could happen to anyone, and they would still be beautiful. In 2006 Lynnea, age 21, lived her dream of being a model by enlisting the help of a friend and The National Association of People With AIDS also known as NAPWA. The Positively Beautiful Fashion Show came to life during the Positive Youth Institute at The Ryan White National Youth Conference.
Lynnea, who is now 30 years old, still feels passionate about inspiring other positive people to recognize their own beauty while proving to the world that HIV has no look.
In May of 2014 Lynnea found out that another seemingly impossible dream of hers would soon come true. She grew up believing that motherhood would never be apart of her story. In November she gave birth to her beautiful HIV negative baby girl. Lynnea now knows that it is her calling to continue to educate the world about HIV/AIDS and what a positive life entails. She has experienced stigma and ignorance as well as amazing love and support. Lynnea has a story to tell and it is Positively Beautiful!